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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27147320">Embers in the Night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidNightWriter42/pseuds/MidNightWriter42'>MidNightWriter42</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>No Straight Roads (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Female!Reader - Freeform, Freedom~!, Goolings, OCs for other members, Pre-Kul Fyra Tatiana, Reader-Insert, Sapphic Nerds in Love, Slow Burn, will update as we go - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:03:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,063</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27147320</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidNightWriter42/pseuds/MidNightWriter42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For years, you have been trapped under the control of your Father. Now after gettin' free from your gilded cage, you must learn to live for the first time!</p>
<p>Will update this later...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tatiana | Kul Fyra (No Straight Roads)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Embers in the Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>White.</p>
<p>    You had always hated it.</p>
<p>    It always felt too pristine, too pure, too stifling. Suffocating.</p>
<p>    Yet this is what you are most accustomed to. Being surrounded by the towering white walls of your family’s mansion, with pristine white furniture with overstuffed cushions that were far too soft to be comfortable in and constantly accompanied by stuffy maids and butlers in their pristine white outfits, not a single mark or hair out of place.</p>
<p>    It makes you sick.</p>
<p>    “Now, now Sweetums~!” cooed the disgustingly sweet voice of your father. “Smile~! You are about to meet your future hubby~! You want to make a good impression~!” He beamed down at you with that fake smile of his, a dark condescending aura thinly veiled behind it.</p>
<p>    ‘I’m on thin ice,’ you swallowed heavily, your throat tightening in fear. Before you finally managed to pull your lips back into a smile.</p>
<p>    “That’s the spirit Sweetie~!” your father cooed once more, his tone lighter and the dark aura finally receding.<br/>
Looking back towards the door that led into the main hall of your family’s mansion, the smooth white wood reflecting back your strained smile. Before finally opening with an audible creaking groan, onto a lively hall with men and women in fine dress filling the room, their amicable chatter occupying the usually hauntingly quiet space.</p>
<p>    Your chest tightened and your stomach knotted as your father gently offered his arm to you.</p>
<p>    ‘Just smile and play your part,’ you stressed to yourself.</p>
<p>    As your father leads you out into the hall, the noise of the guests quickly falls silent as they turn to look at the two of you, a surge of anxiety courses through you as thousands of eyes settle on you. Feeling you freeze up beside him, your father clears his throat and casts a dark glare at you from the corner of his eye, quickly knocking you out of your panicked state.</p>
<p>    Quickly slipping into your mask like every party before, your strained smile taking its place.</p>
<p>    Apparently appeased by this, your father proceeds to guide you forward closer to the stairs before addressing the crowd. Your beautiful pristine white gown flowing out around you like a silk wave with little flowers gathered on your hip and right shoulder.</p>
<p>    Knowing what this party was for, this graceful gown made you feel disgusted and ashamed.</p>
<p>    “Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Suitors,” His voice boomed throughout the hall, commanding the attention of all of the attendants. “We are gathered here today to celebrate a most auspicious occasion, the day where my beautiful little girl finally becomes a woman,” his grin widened ever so slightly before he turned towards you.<br/>
“And when she finally takes her place where she belongs, to a fine husband!”</p>
<p>    The crowd broke into a low roll of giggles at your Father’s ‘joke.’</p>
<p>    You wanted nothing more than to sink through the floor. To simply phase through the polished marble and disappear into the abyss.</p>
<p>    With a slight push from your Father, you slowly made your way down the grand staircase and towards the crowd.</p>
<p>   After entering the crowd, the evening blurred together. Everything mixed into a sickening experience of wandering eyes, vulgar words and repulsive men nearly twice your age approaching you on the grounds of being suitors. </p>
<p>    It wasn’t until much later that your mind decided that it was safe to surface once more. You were treated to a familiar view of the polished white porcelain of the toilet bowl as you puked up what little you were allowed to eat this evening.</p>
<p>    “There, there,” a hand gently patted your back as the other held back some of your hair, just in case. “‘Better out than in,’ Mum always said,” the compassionate voice of your <strike>maid</strike> only friend echoed off the tiles of the bathroom adjoined to your bedroom.</p>
<p>
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</p>
<p>
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</p>
<p>    A young woman named Mary, she was a petite young woman with pale pink skin, gentle green eyes and rose pink hair that was pulled up into a tight bun. As always she was dressed in her usual white maid uniform. Even though she was older than you by quite a few years, she was the closest thing that you had to a friend in this awful place.</p>
<p>    Leaning back slightly from the bowl, you coughed a couple of times before swallowing roughly, the taste of bile still in your throat.</p>
<p>    “Mary, I can’t do this anymore,” You almost sobbed. “I just turned 19 and they are already trying to marry me off,” you sniffled softly before burying your face in your hands. “I can’t take it anymore.”</p>
<p>    After a pregnant pause, Mary stood up and shuffled off. The sound of a case opening and then closing echoed from your bedroom before she shuffled back into the room, a bundle of cloth in her hands.</p>
<p>    “I thought that you might feel like that Ma’am,” blinking you look up from your hands and tilt your head slightly. “So, I got you these,” she dropped the bundle of clothing into your hands.</p>
<p>    Curiously, you unfolded the bundle to reveal that it was a set of street clothes! Clothes that you had only seen people wear in videos that Mary had on her phone. It was a rather simple get up of a [f/c] shirt with simply black jeans and a pair of simple black sneakers.</p>
<p>    Eyeing the articles of clothing with amazement, it was then that it hit as to what Mary was hinting at.</p>
<p>    “You think I should sneak out?” your voice was quiet, unsure. Mary just nodded her head.</p>
<p>    “I think that you should not only sneak out but run away,” she offered her hand to you, to which you gratefully took. Rising to your feet, you held the street clothes to your chest. “Leave this place, how you have been able to handle all of this for so long astounds me,” she sounded incredulous. “Yet, it's clear to everyone that this place is making you sick!”</p>
<p>    Feeling a pang of sadness go through you, it felt all too close to home.</p>
<p>    Yet here she was offering you a way out of this torturous life!</p>
<p>    Banishing away any fear, your features quickly knitted together in determination, as you finally looked Mary in the eye and gave an affirmative nod. Ready to get this underway before you quickly realized something.</p>
<p>    “But what about you?” you question her. “You're my personal maid, surely wouldn’t my Father become suspicious of you?”</p>
<p>    Mary shook her head.</p>
<p>    “Pay no mind to that, your well being is my main concern,” she shushed your concerns before she stepped back and pulled out one of the shoji privacy screens, unfolding it for you in the process. “Now, come on. We don’t have much time if we want to leave tonight,” she urged you.</p>
<p>    Just before midnight, a huge group of maids and servants would leave the mansion for the night before returning in the morning. It was the only open window that you’d have before tomorrow night and you knew that when the sun rose tomorrow, your freedom would be a thing of the past.</p>
<p>    Without another word, you moved behind the screen and changed lightning quick out of that uncomfortable, suffocating dress and into the loose yet comfortable street clothes. Your feet already feel better to be out of those damn high heels that you had been forced to wear.</p>
<p>    Taking a moment to admire the fit in the mirror, you smiled to yourself.</p>
<p>    ‘I look just like everybody else!’ you noted with glee for staring back at you was an average run-of-the-mill young woman. Stepping out from behind, you smiled to yourself when Mary had given you a once over before she hands you a hoodie.</p>
<p>    “Put this on and then follow me, everyone is getting ready to leave,” she herself had already changed out of her maid uniform and was now in her casual attire.</p>
<p>    Pull the hoodie over your head, you fall into step beside her and together the two of you left your room. Speed walking through winding corridors, you quickly found your way towards the Servants exit.</p>
<p>    It was almost surreal at how easy it was to slip out and into the humid night air.</p>
<p>    ‘Finally, Freedom,’ the thought echoed in your head as your heart ached. Your freedom was so close. ‘Freedom from being watched like a hawk, from being ridiculed, from being controlled.’</p>
<p>    “Free to finally be my own person,” you murmured under your own breath as for the first time in a long time, you stepped outside of your prison and looked upon the world without a sheet of glass in between.</p>
<p>    Finally free from the suffocating grasp of your Father. For the first time in your life, you felt like you could breathe.</p>
<p>    Only a short 30 minutes had passed since you had left with Mary and the other servant's employees of your families' the Manor. And were actually kind of surprised when the other employees had actually moved closer to the two of you, allowing you to hide in plain sight from the guards.</p>
<p>    You had always made sure to treat them well, like family, over the years. Often you rebelled against your father when someone had accidentally messed up, to spare them from your father’s wrath.</p>
<p>    Since you had finally left behind your gilded cage, you had spent most of these 30 minutes simply looking around and taking in the world around you. Simply absorbing the different sights and sounds around you. The Housing District, where the rich lived in the city, was rather boring in all regards. Large mansions lind the streets with their large yards and high fences, the only really strange feature of the street was your prison, a towering mansion with gothic arches and surrounded by an imposing gate and fence, all of them that same stark white.</p>
<p>    “Well, you are finally free,” cheered one of the other employees, Abigail if you remembered correctly. All of the other girls were now dressed in their street clothes as well.</p>
<p>“What are you gonna do now?” one of the other girls enquired.</p>
<p>    Tilting your head to the side, tapping a finger to your chin, you let out a slight hum as you tried to think of a reply. It was then that it dawned on you, that you were so desperate to escape that you hadn’t even considered what would happen if you did leave!</p>
<p>    So you settled on being honest with them.</p>
<p>    “If I’m gonna be totally honest, I don’t actually know what to do now,” you confessed. “I never really thought that I could finally be free.” You smiled to yourself as the other girls nodded their head in understanding, quite a few of them had been present to experience the abuse that you had endured on a daily basis.</p>
<p>    “Well, no matter what,” Mary threw her arm over your shoulder as the group finally approached the border of the Housing District. “We’ll help you out, show you how us normal folk live!” she beamed back at you, to which you felt a warm feeling bloom in your chest. “You can stay at my place for the time being.”</p>
<p>    “Thank you so much,” you wrapped an arm around Mary and pulled her closer for a hug.</p>
<p>    As your group finally crossed the boundary between the rich and the rest of the world, you finally got to see what Vinyl City was really like.</p>
<p>    Your world, once an empty landscape of white, exploded into a cacophony of sights, sounds and smells! With each portion bursting with new experiences and delights!</p>
<p>    “Welcome to the Festival Plaza!” Mary made a grand sweeping gesture with her arms to the magnificent view before you.</p>
<p>    Smiling gleefully, you listened to the street musicians performing their crafts and watched as the cooks created their treats at the street food stalls. Through it all, Mary would often pull you along with the crowd, promising to visit at a later date to try them out. Half way through your moments of discovery, the rest of the girls split off for the night and left for their homes but not until after they wished you a good night.</p>
<p>    “Seeing as no one’s realized that you had gone, we should probably play it smart and lay low for a while,” she reasoned as the two of you made your way to what you had assumed was her home.</p>
<p>    Nodding your head in agreement, you kept in step with her and resolutely ignored all of the wonderful smells that seemed to be coming from one of the nearby food stalls.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t until then that you felt a hauntingly familiar cold feeling wash over you, muscles tensing and the hair on the back of your neck rose in response as dread curled in the pit of your stomach.</p>
<p>    The two of you were being watched.</p>
<p>    Mary noticed your response then she looked at you with a brow raised. “What’s wrong? Why are you so tense?”</p>
<p>    You quickly shushed her before quietly urging her to move faster. “We are being watched, Mary! I know this feeling all too well,” you kept your gaze fixed forward, not daring to look around. “Are we close to your place?”</p>
<p>    Mary’s face paled greatly before she shook her head. “Not even close, we still have a ways to go,” she whispered as she picked up the pace.</p>
<p>    “Is there any place that we can hide?” you whispered sharply.</p>
<p>    It was then that you finally worked up the courage to look around and ever so carefully, you looked out of the corner of your eye. It was then that you saw them, a rough-looking group emerge from the crowd. Dressed in dark leather jackets with a curious bright blue badge in the shape of a wolf’s head, as they stalked the two of you, you could see a dark predatory look in their eyes as they eyed the two of you.</p>
<p>    Your heart immediately jumped into your throat as you quickly grabbed Mary’s arm, when she finally glanced over her shoulder to see what had spooked you.</p>
<p>    “Follow me! There’s a place near here where we can hide!” she hissed before she took off running with you in tow.</p>
<p>    You had just barely started running when you could hear the group behind you cuss and begin to give chase. With your heart pounding in your chest, you and Mary wound your way through the winding backstreets and away from the Festival Plaza’s bright lights, venturing into the darker areas of the city.</p>
<p>    With your adrenaline running high, you could swear that the group was right on your tail when Mary makes a sharp turn to the right, practically flies down a short set of stairs before making another sharp right turn and rams her shoulder into a heavy metal door, causing it to violently swing open and hit a wall with a loud bang.</p>
<p>    You had just managed to dodge the huge metal door as Mary hastily closed it, before attempting to pull down a large rusted metal latch that functioned as a ‘lock’ for the door. After watching Mary struggle with it for a second, you could hear the approaching footsteps and voices of your pursuers, spurring you into action as you grabbed the latch and the two of you pulled down as hard as you could!</p>
<p>    Ater one heart-stopping moment, the rusty metal latch finally gave way with a loud screech and it slammed down into place, with an echoing clang!</p>
<p>    It was then that you heard them cursing from the other side of the door, “Ah, damn! They managed to get back to their hole.”</p>
<p>    “It’s okay, we’ll get them next time,” came another goon's voice.</p>
<p>    ‘Next time?!’ you practically screamed in your head as you stayed stock still for a moment before Mary drew back from the door. The sounds from the other side finally receding until there was only the silence of a hopefully empty street.</p>
<p>    Standing up fully, she gave a strained laugh as she looked over at you. “Some first night of freedom, huh?”</p>
<p>    Suddenly unable to bring yourself to speak, you simply nodded before standing up straight. Mary opened her mouth to speak but was abruptly interrupted by a gruff voice echoing down from the concrete hallway that the two of you found yourself in.</p>
<p>    “HEY! WHO’S THERE?!” the owner of the voice practically snarled.</p>
<p>    Looking around, you found that the hallway was actually quite short with only one end opening into a larger space just a few paces away.</p>
<p>    “WHOEVER YOU ARE, YOU BETTER NOT BE HERE TO CAUSE TROUBLE, YOU HEAR ME?!” snapped the owner once more.</p>
<p>    Any previous calm that you had managed to regain was instantly thrown out the window as you practically jumped when a figure stepped into the doorway to the next room. Although, Mary’s reaction was definitely one that you didn’t expect as she turned around and snapped at the figure, glaring all the while.</p>
<p>    “STOP YELLING! WE’RE FREAKED OUT ENOUGH AS IT IS, EDDY!” when you flinched at her shout, she quickly turned to you and softly apologized. “Hey, hey, there is no need to be scared now. We’re safe, this is my brother’s place where he and his ‘band’ practices,” she takes your hand once more and gently leads you down the hall and towards the other room.</p>
<p>    The aggressive figure, you noted, was actually a young man that held a striking resemblance to Mary, only his skin was a slightly dark shade of pink with vivid green hair instead yet their eyes were very much that same gentle green hue. Although he dressed vastly different from Mary, as most of his clothes looked worn and had a few holes here and there.</p>
<p>    “We are safe, there is nothing to worry about,” she reaffirmed as she shot a glare towards ‘Eddy.’ “This is my brother, Edward,” the young man crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at the two of you, a pair of sticks gripped in one of his hands. “Or you can call him, Eddy. Either is fine,” supplied Mary.</p>
<p>    “Hey, don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” groused her brother before he steps aside and allows you two farther into the room.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t a large room, not like the ones that you were used to, but it was large enough to be comfortable. The floor and walls were all concrete while the ceiling was open with a variety of different pipes running along it. Within the room was an old faded red sofa that lined one wall and was loaded up with blankets and pillows, a tacky amber shag rug that occupied the central area of the floor, a rather large pillow that looked as though it could easily seat one person! And finally a large tapestry along one wall that seemed to say something yet the writing was far too crude to clearly make out what it was. It was then that you noticed there was what appeared to be a variety of musical instruments that were set up just in front of the tapestry. Located a short ways away from the end of the sofa was a set of stairs that lead to another floor, you presumed.</p>
<p>    “Anyway, what was all that hullabaloo about, Mary?” Eddy enquired as he walked around the two of you to peer down the hall towards the barricaded door.</p>
<p>    “It was the Blue Wolves again,” Mary explained as she led you over to the sofa and motioned you to sit, you complied and plopped yourself down onto it. “They chased us all the way from the Festival Plaza.”</p>
<p>    Which you were grateful for, it was then that you idly noticed that your hands still hadn't stopped trembling. Clenching them into fists, you sincerely hoped that they would stop shaking soon as you didn’t want to seem so fragile to Mary. Secretly, you didn’t want her to regret breaking you out.</p>
<p>    “Hey, Mar?” Eddy called, Mary hummed in response. “A word?” Eddy motioned towards the stairs that lead to another floor above.</p>
<p>    “Alright,” she conceded, her tone somewhat flat as if she knew what was coming next. “Hey, I’ll be back with a cup of water for you, okay?” she placed her hand on your shoulder comfortingly.</p>
<p>    You simply nodded in reply, still not trusting your voice.</p>
<p>    Mary’s brows pinched together ever so slightly as she smiles back at you. “I’ll be back soon,” with that she follows her brother upstairs, the sounds of their footsteps audible through the cool gloom of the room.</p>
<p>    After a few moments, you hear a door above you opening and closing before the sound of raised voices were heard through the ceiling, you couldn’t clearly hear what they were saying yet a small voice in the back of your mind echoed that it was probably about you.</p>
<p>    ‘They are probably talking about sending me back,’ the voice supplied unhelpfully, you felt your heart seize in your chest as you found yourself struggling to breath. ‘No! Mary wouldn’t do that! She wouldn’t betray me like that! She’s my friend!’ you tried to reason back. ‘Please, she was never your friend, she was always your maid!’</p>
<p>    Before you knew it, you found yourself spiralling into darker and darker thoughts. Stressed and worn out, you could barely feel the tears slowly begin to roll down your face. So absorbed in your own little world, you missed the sounds of heavy footsteps descending the staircase.</p>
<p>    “Woah! Hey, are you okay?” came an unfamiliar voice, their tone filled with concern. “H-hey, can you hear me?” came the voice again when you didn’t respond after a moment.</p>
<p>    It was then that you managed to finally surface from your seemingly endless spiral of troubling thoughts to meet a pair of worried magenta eyes of a large individual, causing you to abruptly recoil from the sudden presences of this stranger. Smushing yourself back into the sofa as far as you could possibly go and curling in on yourself.</p>
<p>    “Gah!” she jerked back as you let out a sharp yelp, both of her hands raised in a palcating manner.</p>
<p>    The two of you froze up as you both took a moment to observe each other.</p>
<p>    Before you was a tall and imposing young woman with a powerful build, her skin was of an ashen grey color, her hair was predominantly white with streaks of red and cut short while her eyes were that same bright magenta, although now you could see a pair of round glasses perched on her nose. It was then that you noticed that despite her size and obvious strength that she seemed to hunch over as if trying to make herself seem smaller and less threatening, her face was that of an open and honest expression of worry and concern. Despite her apparent attempts at this, she wore clothing style that was very similar to Eddy, save for the fact that there seemed to be a few holes burnt into her clothing here and there.</p>
<p>    Between the two of you, she was the first one to speak again, this time her tone was much softer.</p>
<p>    “H-hey there, it’s okay,” she spoke. “I’m a friend of Mary’s brother, Eddy. Mary asked me to bring you a glass of water,” she slowly reached behind herself to reveal a small glass of water. Looking between her and the glass for a second, you then forced yourself to calm down and relax into a more open posture before meekly taking the glass from her large hard.</p>
<p>    “T-thank you,” your voice was still very shaky but at least you had finally said something. “S-sorry, I jumped like that. I didn’t hear you come down,” you apologized for your earlier behaviour before taking a sip from the glass with still somewhat shaky hands.</p>
<p>    “It’s okay,” the large young woman said as she stood to her full height, “I heard about what happened outside from Mary.” It was then that it hit you just how much taller she was than you, her figure towering over your meager height. However, you were quick to mask your shock under taking another sip of water.</p>
<p>    Meeting her kind magenta eyes for the briefest of moments, before you find yourself quickly looking down towards your glass, your face flushed with a warm blush.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, it was rather scary,” you supplied. ‘When did it get so warm in here?’ you wondered quietly as you took another sip, the temperate of the room had seemingly jumped a couple degrees. “Ah, I’m sorry! I’m being so rude right now!” you clumsily introduced yourself to your new companion, who in turn just smiled sheepishly at you.</p>
<p>    “It’s okay! You're not being rude at all,” she chuckled slightly. “I’m Tatiana Qwartz, nice to meet you,” she offered you her hand, to which you stared at it for a second, highly confused.</p>
<p>    Fortunately, it quickly dawns on you at what she expected.</p>
<p>    You quickly take her hand and give it a small shake, like you had seen your Father do many times before with his mutuals.</p>
<p>    ‘Her hand is so warm!’ you marveled as you noted the subtle heat that seemed to radiate from her person.</p>
<p>    “A-anyway, are you a part of the band, Tatiana?” you asked, unsure of what is coming over you yet still desperate to cover it up. Fortunately, Tatiana didn’t seem to pick up on your small dilemma.</p>
<p>    “Ah, yeah! I am!” it was then that she moved away from you and grabbed a large oddly shaped case from by the doorway that led to the upper floor. “I’m the lead guitarist!” she held up the case, an excited smile on her face.</p>
<p>    Taking a seat on the couch, a respectful distance near you, she balanced the case on her knees and promptly popped it open. Within the case was a rather old looking electric guitar, yet despite it’s rather aged appearance, it was still very well cared for with only a few scuff marks here and there and areas where it had very clearly been repaired by novice hands. And w-was that s-scorch marks on the neck and body of the guitar?!</p>
<p>You had never actually seen an electric guitar up close before, at least not in person. No, it was only through the small screen of Mary’s phone that you ever got a good look at one. Even during your Father’s galas, only certain instruments were played, ones that were deemed a better fit for ‘High’ society. Unfortunately, the guitar was not considered among them, according to your Father.</p>
<p>    ‘He isn’t here,’ you reminded yourself. ‘Your free from his tyranny, remember that!’</p>
<p>    Apparently, you had been quiet for a beat as long as the smile fell from Tatiana’s face slightly, her beautiful magenta eyes glancing away.</p>
<p>    “I know that it doesn’t look like much…” she trailed off as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. She placed her hand on top of the case and looked as though she was gonna shut it.</p>
<p>    ‘Oh No! No no no!’ you panicked internally at seeing her mood drop a little. “N-no! It’s okay! I’m just not familiar with this sort of instrument!” You explained quickly. “I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing a guitar this close before,” you beamed up at her.</p>
<p>    “‘Never seen one this close’?” Tatiana gave you a bewildered look, her brows raised in surprise at this. “Really? This is Vinyl City, there’s someone playing guitar practically on every corner!”</p>
<p>    “Y-yeah, my family never really allowed me to explore different instruments that much,” you cringed slightly, your Father’s scathing words about guitars being for poor folk echoed in the back of your head. “I was only ever really allowed to play the Piano or sing,” you nervously scratch the back of your neck as you glance away from Tatiana, too ashamed to look her in the eye.</p>
<p>    Upon your admission, Tatiana’s expression softened as if she understood your plight.</p>
<p>    Hearing her release a soft sigh beside you, Tatiana carefully shifted her guitar case to the side before wrapping an arm around you and gently pulling you close to her for a one armed hug. Her voice dropping down to a gentle tone.</p>
<p>    “It’s okay,” she comforted you, “I don’t know what your full situation is but I can promise that you dont have to face it alone,” reassuringly rubbed your shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “So, when you need to, you can rely on us, okay?”</p>
<p>    Those words were so simple to say. Yet, you couldn’t help but fully believe her, finally feeling safe after such a harrowing couple of hours. Your throat grew tight as you nodded your head quietly, not trusting your voice at this time.</p>
<p>    Just hearing that for once in your life, you weren’t alone, you won't be scrutinized at every second of the day, that there were people that wanted to help and support you in your new life.</p>
<p>    Tatiana just tightened her hug and gave you a moment to fully compose yourself.</p>
<p>    After about a minute of you sniffling quietly, you were quick to wipe away any tears that you may have shed before returning her smile.</p>
<p>    “So um,” you cleared your throat. “What sort of music do you play?”</p>
<p>    Upon hearing this, this beautiful gentle giant of a woman visibly perked before grabbing her guitar and launching into an exposition on this type of music called Rock, her magenta eyes a lit with fiery passion. You carefully scooted back to a respectful distance and listened intently to Tatiana, quietly noting the flickers of embers that seemed to rise from her shoulders as she got more heated.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t until much later on into the night, after you had gotten to see the Goolings practice and feeling the rush of ‘electricity’ spread throughout your body, that you realized something important.</p>
<p>    As you lay there in your makeshift bed on the floors of Mary’s bedroom, you finally noticed that you feel as though a crushing weight had been lifted from your chest. Finally able to truly live your life for the first time, you drifted off into a deep slumber. That night your dreams were filled with guitars, rock and blazing fires.</p>
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